HOLD THE FORT. You mean to tell me that Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Masahiro Sakurai collaborated on a falling block puzzle game in 2006 and I'm just now finding out about it??

In short, this game rules. Sakurai brings the Melee orchestral soundfont, quirky game menus, charming art direction and scenario, and simple twist on a beloved genre that completely reinvents its gameplay. Mizuguchi brings the snappy gamefeel, reactive sound design, and overall dopamine-inducing game design. Together, they've made an addicting little time waster that's perfect as a pre-bedtime ritual.

Notably, this game is designed in such a way that I can't imagine it working on anything but the DS due to the touchscreen. Maybe a modern smartphone or even Switch port is possible, but Meteos is one of those classic victims of innovation left in the dust by the modern games industry.

I played about 20 hours and it was a good time. It’s a unique block falling puzzle game where matching blocks rockets them off screen. Each level is a new “planet” with different ideas, gimmicks, and even gravities so it’s always throwing new things at you to keep it exciting.

While I enjoyed the game I kind of feel like neither control system is really perfect. Maybe I’m just bad and there is really high level play out there. However, it felt to me like the dpad was too slow to keep up with the chaos on screen and using the stylus was too inaccurate. shrugs

It doesn’t matter because the real joy of this game is vibes. Each level has unique art and music that blend together well with the game mechanics. You can feel Mizuguchi’s influence every time you clear blocks and the blast joins harmoniously with the music. And you can see Sakurai’s influence with the clean menus and fun sprites and animations. Just a fun game to play when you have some downtime because you can fit a few rounds in.

I have a weird history with this game. I got it around launch for the DS based on hype and I didn’t really get it. I sold the game and ended up getting it again around 2-3 years ago based on recommendations. Playing it again I understood the hook and I was planning on continuing. But I got busy with other games and kind of forgotten about it. I continued with the save yesterday and I understand why it just won’t work out between us :P

The interesting thing about this puzzle game is that you’re not allowed to change the blocks horizontally but only vertically. It definitely shakes up the formula. The game also has different planets with different rules like the speed of the blocks launching and how quick the blocks drop. The main mode is having you carry out missions and select the route you want to take. You earn lots of different currencies that you can use to create new things like new items, music and even planets if I remember things correctly.

Here’s where things start to get problematic. You can’t save and continue with your progress in the main mode. You have to finish it in one go or put the DS on standby. There is an option to play a separate mode with only one planet but it’s barebones and not the main course. The game also crams lots of info in the lower screen and it expects you to select the blocks with perfect accuracy while the blocks are super tiny. I’ve had many times where I just can’t pick the block I want with the touch screen. Then there are the mechanics, the game seems to have way too many things to keep in mind that it kind of gets in the way of a pure puzzle game. It feels like being complex for complexity’s sake. And lastly, it looks like the game is going to be very grindy if you want to unlock everything. You’re going to need a lot of different currencies.

It feels like this game had the potential to be one of the best puzzle games with strong gameplay. Its appeal is limited to a small niche for being too ambitious and trying to do too much with the small screens. It doesn’t quite reach the perfect balance of lots of depth while easy to pick up and play. But that small niche will absolutely love it.

After Tetris you would think that there were only so many tile matching style score-attack puzzle game systems that exist. Whilst it’s a subgenre that hasn’t had the hugest innovations over the years it is a well that has been repeatedly visited by games over and over again and one that I will quite happily take a sip from each time.

Back in 2005 it was Kirby’s dad Masahiro Sakurai’s turn and alongside was the dual screens of Nintendo’s handheld system of the time.
What he came up with was fairly innovative, some good fun but ultimately for me, not one I can see being in my rotation of puzzlers to go back to and relax with.

Meteos like many of its kind before have blocks drop from the top of the screen, you cannot turn them but with the stylus slide a single block up and down columns where you please.
One big difference here is matching does not instantly delete blocks (in most cases), match three vertically and the entire column fires up like a rocket, match horizontally and they become platform lifting all the blocks above them.
Ultimately you are sending the falling blocks, or meteors, back into space and potentially towards an enemy's planet - this being the main theme throughout the game.

Sakurai has stated that the game wasn’t initially targeted for DS but says, and I agree, that use of the stylus made the block sliding and matching feel much more fluid and faster than via a d-pad.
From my perspective I really appreciate sending the meteors off the top of the touchscreen and seeing the explosions and results at the top, but when the game picks up speed and difficulty I find myself not seeing any of it which is a shame.

Meteos interplanetary theme brings in a few other innovations and a surprising amount of variety in what is a well covered genre.
Each planet has different block rates, each has their own rules, be that being faster, slower, vertical or horizontal combinations being more powerful or other slight changes to the feel of play.
As you would expect each planet has its own background and even different block art but however much this fits the theme I found many of these quite ugly to look at, some being more difficult to match at speed than others and when that is your primary objective it isn’t ideal.
Overall I never fell in love with Meteos presentation but I could not call it bad, the menus have a very Smash Bros. feel which isn’t surprising and keeps even the menus feeling exciting yet simple to navigate.

Sending falling blocks directly back up rather than destroying them is definitely an interesting innovation. The feel of lining another horizontal row of blocks as your original struggles to reach the top, causing a small boost, is quite enjoyable but not as snappy and as satisfying late Puyo colour match or a T-spin.

If, like me, you enjoy falling blocks then this is definitely one you should try and the DS is a fantastic way to enjoy the genre. However you’ll probably find your way back to Puyo Puyo, Panel de Pon or the Daddy which is Tetris in no time.

Match three puzzle games are a weakness for me. As long as there are some good visuals and addictive gameplay I'm hooked. Meteos is a unique take on this as the game lets you drag blocks anywhere in their column and you can match three horizontally or vertically. This allows the game to drop blocks at a breakneck pace. You need to strategize and line blocks up, but that's not all. To clear them the matched blocks launch themselves and all blocks above them into the air. Continue matching blocks below that set and it will exit the screen and clear.

Of course, there are some items that help you clear the stage such as a giant hammer and bombs, but if the game is going too slow for you there's a speed-up dial as well. The main mission mode has three different stages. In each one, you have to work your way to the final bass, Meteo. Each and every planet has a different tile set and way to clear blocks. One planet required matching two sets nearby in order to get the blocks to launch. Some planets will launch every set all the way up in exchange for making the entire round faster. This is a simple concept, but it's hard to master. Match three games like this always require strategy, but I found that some luck comes into play here. I would restart one round nearly a dozen times only to win really quickly thanks to blocks falling in a certain pattern that allowed me to keep my screen clear.

Every time you defeat a boss it's really satisfying. The fast speed of needing to look ahead and make sure blocks are always lined up gets tough, but you learn over time. I wish you had power-ups like in some games like this, but what's here is fine. There are a couple more modes such as an endless mode and a custom mode. Modes are ideal for games like this that don't have a ton of missions like Puzzle Quest. However, I really do feel a more robust mission mode would have been better. After about an hour I wanted to stop. The game is only fun in short bursts due to its arcade-like nature. While the game can be addictive at times when you actually win it can also be exhausting because of the fast pace and luck-based nature of each match.

For an early DS title, the game looks good. There are some nice effects, and lots of colors and the touch screen responds well to the small blocks. I did find some tilesets were hard on the eyes, but I did eventually get used to them. Overall, Meteos is a fun puzzle game on the system and takes the genre in new directions despite the lack of a more robust mission mode.